Have you ever seen or experienced online harassment? According to a survey done by Dosomething.org, 70% of students had admitted to seeing frequent cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is bullying online using technology. Cyberbullying is different from “normal” bullying because the harassment can occur 24/7 and is sometimes impossible to track the anonymous person.

Bullying online has been taken too far over the years, and it is time to make a change.
Someone who has experienced cyberbullying will face many challenges. Online bullying causes many unfortunate things such as; horrible in-school experiences,bad self esteem, depression, and suicide. There are many teens that do not even want to go to school because they have such horrible experiences online. Kids do not want to go to school, because they are not getting treated any better at school than they are online. The American Journal of Public Health stated that, 47% of people who were bullied online were also bullied in school. The result of getting bullied constantly can lead to skipping school and bad grades. If someone is getting bullied at home and at school, there is no escape. Not attending school to get assignments obviously results in bad grades. Many teens already have bad self esteem and if someone is cyberbullied, it can make things worse. Their self esteem will just keep decreasing and decreasing if they are getting hate because of their looks and personality this can lead to self depression. Self depression is a medical condition that can be treated. Depression is when someone has the thoughts of being worthless and unneeded. It drains energy, hope, and drive, making it even more difficult to go on. According to American Journal Of Public Health, ? of people who are cyberbullied have had symptoms of depression. Teens should not have to be faced with depression from random people online who only say things to make themselves feel better. Depression can lead to many other things such as suicide and self harm. Suicide is a very serious effect that proved this has been taken too far. Kids feel so worthless and broken that they feel like they do not deserve to live. Our society makes teens feel like they aren’t good enough, and getting repetitive hate online pulls so many people over the edge and go to the extreme of suicide.

Megan Meier is a 13-year-old girl who faced all of the challenges of cyberbullying. Her depression started when she was only in third grade when she mentioned suicide to her mother, Tina. Her mother quickly took action and took her to a therapist to get her the help she needed. Nobody ever called her pretty or complimented her, so she felt ugly, overweight, and very insecure. One day, she got a friend request on Myspace from a “cute” boy. She accepted the request and was talking to him everyday. Her mom did not like the fact that she was talking to someone she did not know and told her not to talk to him. Megan didn’t listen, because he made her feel special with his compliments. When she asked him for his number, he said he did not have a phone to contact her with. This made Megan’s mother very nervous and suspicious. Then suddenly the compliments turned to insults. He started harassing her online by calling her ugly and a slut daily. The stress and frustration was too much for her, because she has dealt with depression previously in her life. On October 6, 2006, Megan hung herself in her closet. Later, her family found out that boy she met online was nonexistent . When the person who was behind the screen came forward, they discovered it was a mother in the neighborhood. Everyone who read or heard about the tragedy was shocked and horrified that an adult would cyberbully a child. This story is one of many examples that shows how destructive words online were taken too far and led only to the worse.

Nobody should have to worry about cyberbullying. It is a problem that has been taken to the extreme. There are a few simple solutions that you, schools, the community, and nation can do to address this social injustice. There are things you can personally do to make the things you do online safe and bully free. You can keep your websites protected by having it private to people you know and are friends with. People get bullied for the things they are posting, so watch what you post. You should not post something that is too personal and you would not want people talking about behind your back. Teachers and other students also need to educate those who are unaware such as students and adults, not everyone knows what is happening online. Rosalind Wiseman, a bullying speaker, studied solutions to cyberbullying and recommended meetings. She discovered that all school assemblies are not effective because the group is too large. She recommended smaller group meetings with parents, students, and faculties. You can educate by making them aware of the causes and consequences. This allows the people listening to be more focused on the issue and want to take action.

The solutions need to also be taken to a higher level of society so everybody is aware what is happening. In the community, a cyberbully expert should educate the police on the subject. Many police do not know how to handle cyberbullying, and when the hurtful words or actions are considered “bullying.” If they studied cyberbullying, police would be able to find and take care of cyberbullying. If teens knew the police were taking it seriously, they might also take it more seriously and be cautious to what they do online. Another solution to cyberbullying, is making laws to take care of the social injustice. According to Nation Conference of State Legislators, 40 out of the 50 states have laws on cyberbullying. The nation could address the ten states by making it a federal law. If it became a law, people would be aware of cyberbullying and, again, take it more seriously. It would allow the police and courts to punish those who cyberbully.

Cyberbullying is an important social injustice that can no longer be overlooked; it can destroy someone's self esteem, confidence, and even their life. It is time for everyone to take action before it gets any worse.